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Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Here's the second half of my second new Blood Angels Tactical squad. They're painted the same as the previous Marines, but I'm happy to be finished with them. Painting red is wearing on me and I think I need a break.

Friday, December 18, 2015

Kauyon includes seven new Space Marine Formations. These can be used by Space Marines of any Chapter Tactics, but can't be part of a Gladius Strike Force. However, if you're playing Raven Guard, they do fit into the Talon Strike Force.

Pinion Battle Company

The Pinion Battle Demi-Company is very similar to the standard Battle Company, consisting of a Captain or Chaplain, an optional Command Squad, 3 Tactical squads, an Assault squad, and a Devastator squad. These options are much more limited than the standard Battle Demi-Company, as they don't include any of the bike, Land Speeder, or Centurion options. However, you are required to take 1-5 Scout squads or Scout Bike squads in addition to the standard Demi-Company squads, and these are integral to the function of the Pinion Demi-Company.

Monday, December 14, 2015

The Raven Guard keep their Chapter Tactic from Codex: Space Marines, but Kauyon gives them access to their own Warlord Traits, Chapter Relics, and Detachment, the Talon Strike Force. These are all limited to Raven Guard armies.

Talon Strike Force

The Talon Strike Force is another composite detachment made up of Formations, similar to the Gladius and Scarblade Strike Forces. The Talon Strike Force brings three really huge Command Benefits, which is great, since the Raven Guard are widely considered to have one of the weakest Chapter Tactics.

First is Extensive Planning. Talon Strike Forces can re-roll the die when determining Mission, Deployment, and when rolling for first deployment. For pick-up games, those are all pretty big. For tournaments where the Mission and Deployment are set, you still get to re-roll for first Deployment, and thus to choose who gets first turn. To my mind, this allows you to design your army as an MSU force, and re-roll if you come up with Purge the Alien, your one real weak mission.

Friday, December 11, 2015

The White Scars section of Kauyon includes four new Formations. Most importantly, for me at least, these Formation can be taken with an Chapter Tactics. These are part of the Scarblade Strike Force, but can also be taken by any Space Marine army (or allied into another force). However, they can't be taken as part of the Gladius Strike Force.

Stormlance Battle Demi-Company

The Stormlance Battle Demi-Company is very similar to the standard Battle Demi-Company, containing a Captain or Chaplain, an optional Command Squad, 3 Tactical squads, a Devastator squad, and either an Assault squad, Bike squad, Attack Bike squad, or a Land Speeder. The only option it really loses is the ability to take Centurions. It does have the restriction that all non-vehicle units must be equipped with jump packs, bikes, or a Rhino or Razorback.

The Formation has two special rules. The first is Clean and Sweep, which allows the whole Formation to re-roll failed to hit rolls when targeting enemy units holding an Objective. Obviously, this is pretty handy as holding Objectives is what win most games. Second, and much more fun, is Mobile Firebase. This makes your Space Marines into Eldar-light, allowing them to move D6" after they shoot, and 2D6" in the case of bikes and jump infantry. If the unit makes it completely within 2" of an access point of their Dedicated Transport, they can get back onto it, even if they disembarked in the same turn. The only restriction are that units that make these extra moves can't assault that turn.

Monday, December 7, 2015

Somewhat surprisingly, the latest Warhammer 40,000 campaign book, provides a lot of new options to Space Marine armies. It primarily adds to the White Scars and Raven Guard Chapters, but the Formations included can be used by any Space Marine army. I'll be covering all of these new additions, starting with the new White Scars rules.

Scarblade Strike Force

The White Scars Chapter Tactics are fortunately unchanged. However, they've gotten their own Detachment, similar to the Gladius Strike Force. It's called the Scarblade Strike Force, and it allows most of the same Formations as the Gladius. It also adds a few new Formations that accentuate the speed (and Chapter Tactics) of a White Scars army. Unlike the new Formations, all units in the Scarblade Detachment have to be drawn from the White Scars Chapter.

The Scarblade comes with it's own set of Command Benefits. First off is Lightning Assault, which allows all units to re-roll failed Initiative tests for Hit and Run. This is a pretty minor addition, but it does add some extra reliability to the army. It's not common, but I've seem some battle plans destroyed by an unlucky roll keeping an important unit locked in assault. The next benefit is Ride the Wind, which allows vehicles moving Flat Out and bikes that are Turbo-boosting to move an addition D6" and Fast vehicles and Flyers to move an extra 2D6". This is great for last minute objective grabbing, making a White Scar army even faster. Finally, there's Maximum Impact, which gives all units Hammer of Wrath if the make a charge from 8" or more away. If they already have Hammer of Wrath, then they get to re-roll failed wounds. This gives the army a bit more assault ability, which is something that White Scars are often lacking.

Friday, December 4, 2015

I've been lacking motivation to both paint or write for the last couple of weeks, which hopefully explains my lack of posts lately. I'm not sure if it's because of the holidays or what, but I just haven't been feeling it. I finally did sit down and manage to finish the next batch of Tactical Marines I was working on.